Mustapha Heron had a game-high 27 points, including four-of-five from beyond the arc while LJ Figueroa had 23 points, including 14 points on four-of-five from 3-point land in the first half, to lead St. John's past Rutgers 84-65.

Guard Mustapha Heron, a transfer from Auburn, announced Thursday that he's committed to St. John's. Sources tell ESPN's Jeff Borzello that Heron will apply for a hardship waiver in order to play immediately.

St. John's forward Kassoum Yakwe plans to transfer and will not return to the Red Storm next season.

Kieran Darcy ESPN Staff Writer

St. John's coach Chris Mullin, on the scuffle in the postgame handshake line with Xavier: "I didn't see anything."

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Kieran Darcy ESPN Staff Writer

Xavier coach Chris Mack, on the scuffle with St. John's in the postgame handshake line: "I'm not gonna throw anybody under the bus. A couple guys didn't want to shake hands." Didn't want to elaborate much beyond that.

Trevon Bluiett scored 27 points, Kaiser Gates had 16 and No. 3 Xavier looked every bit the top seed in the Big East tournament in an 88-60 win over St. John's on Thursday.

Kieran Darcy ESPN Staff Writer

Xavier advances to the Big East tourney semis, 88-60 over St. John's. Musketeers got hot from beyond the arc in the second half, and steamrolled the Red Storm. A brief scuffle in the postgame handshake line, after Xavier continued to pour it on in the final couple minutes, but it was broken up quickly.

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Macura's 3 pumps up Xavier bench (0:32)

Kieran Darcy ESPN Staff Writer

Xavier 33, St. John's 29 at halftime of the first Big East tourney quarterfinal. No big surprise — these teams played two close games in the regular season, and the Red Storm have wins over Duke and Villanova. Shamorie Ponds with just four points, 1–6 from the field. Justin Simon and Trevon Bluiett the leading scorers with 12 and nine, respectively.

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Paul Sabin ESPN Analytics

St. John's could go from 15% chance to make the tournament to 77% with a win over Xavier per espn.com/bpi . St. John's is only 16-16 but already has the best pair of wins in the country per BPI (Duke & at Villanova).

Shamorie Ponds returned from an abdominal strain and scored 26 points and ninth-seeded St. John's took over in the second half to beat ninth-seeded Georgetown 88-77 in the first round of the Big East Tournament on Wednesday night.

Justin Simon turned three takeaways in the last minute -- a steal and two defensive rebounds -- into five points at the other end and St. John's defeated Butler 72-68 in double overtime on Wednesday night.